November Prayer letter

This past month has overwhelmed me.  God’s grace at times has brought me to tears out of love for Him.  Still no job but lots to praise God for.

The launch service went very smoothly.  Because of how we prepared, John was able to be at peace and focus on preaching the Gospel at our launch service.  We had 112 people in attendance.  I counted at least ten different churches, that were there to support us.  We had coffee provided by Ghostlight, one of the best coffee shops I’ve ever been to, and wings provided by Roosters.  The launch service was a joyful time, worshipping with my brothers and sisters in Christ, hearing the Gospel preached, and then fellowship afterwards.

We have had a fairly steady stream of visitors since launch.  Every week there is a new face, and also return visitors from the previous week.  The members of Refuge continue to welcome visitors and invite them to various activities.

This past Sunday, we had our first baptism service.  I was out of town, but everyone said it was a great time.  Tyler, Alex, and Carrie were baptized, please remember them in your prayers.

We are starting to look at some options for a different building.  We will be moving out of where we are by next summer.  We are only one week into looking and John has already found a couple good possibilities.  Most of these options are minimal in cost and will put us in the heart of downtown.

As some of you might have noticed, for the first time in 33 years, I am now in a dating relationship.  Her name is Cheri, widow of four years, and she has two kids.  I have found myself several times this month asking God to forgive me of all the times I doubted Him in this area.  I doubted the words of my family and friends, when they said, “Dave you’re a great guy. You’ll be a great dad someday…”  Forgive me for doubting the evidence of God’s grace you were seeing in my life.

I was helping this past week and the National Bible Bee, this is why I was out of town.  One of Cheri’s friends heard about me the day we were to go on our first date (less that a week before the bee began).  They needed another person to help.  So her friend had Cheri ask me that night, if I would want to help.  My thought was, “Sink or swim, I’ll know by the end of the week.”  I must have; shared my testimony 50 times last week, talked about Refuge constantly, explained why I had been single for so long multiple times, and every time people seemed to see God’s glory and grace. 

I found myself on Tuesday last week overwhelmed.  The week had just started and already I was overwhelmed.  I got out to the car and called John Pope in tears.  What an amazing God we serve.  I was overwhelmed by the grace I was seeing in my testimony, Refuge, my singleness, my friends, Cheri, and her kids.  I had only been there 24 hours and people were already comenting to Cheri and me that they were happy for us.  They confirmed all the things my friends and family had noticed over the years but in my sin, doubted.

 

What an amazing month it has been.  Praise God for His steadfast love and mercy.  Just in this past month a prayer of 13 years was answered and one of 33 years seems to be coming.  To God be the glory for the things He has done, and does!

1 Peter 4:10-11

July Prayer letter

With our first preview service a couple weeks ago, this month was very busy for Refuge and its leaders.  Our next preview is scheduled for August 19.  This next month is bringing another set of tasks, pray that we continue to rely of God for strength, patience, and guidance.

Refuge is doubling its number of “Fight Clubs” this month, actually tonight.  John has asked that I start a Fight Club with two other guys that have joined the church in the last couple months.  Fight Clubs are the deepest level of descipleship and accountability that Refuge conducts.  Fight Clubs are specifically designed for men to understand who want to understand what it means to be Gospel-centered, God-glorifying men. We strive to equip men with the right tools with which to fight their struggles.  I love the guys that will be with me, but that does not mean this will be easy.  Nothing this harsh against sin ever goes without opposition.  Pray that we grow in our application and realization of our need for the Gospel.

So far I haven’t found a full-time job.  I decided to go outside of education, can’t really explain breifly why, but it is the direction I believe God is equipping me to go towards.   Somedays it’s hard to find joy in applying over and over for jobs.

Sometimes I think I am going crosseyed doing financials.  I have been working on your 501c3 and developing a method for submitting monthly financial reports to John.  That tax stuff is a whole new level of rediculious. Even though I can figure out these things, it takes time, and I struggle to see how it glorifies God.  I know it does, but I often struggle to believe that. 

In a period of two days this month nine people passed out over 2,000 door hangers.  While I was passing out the door hangers I had to constantly remind myself that reaching out to a community does not always happen in ways you enjoy.  I questioned whether it was the best method of letting the community know about Refuge.  God used door hangers though to bring some of those people to our first preview service.

One lady that came, as a result of receive a door hanger, was praying in her livingroom that God would help her find a community of believers.  She is young in her faith, but knew she needed to be with other belivers.  Moments after she finished praying she went out to check the mail and found the door hanger.

John is projecting that our next service will have more, because we passed out the door hangers less than 48 hours before the service.  There was 78 people at our first preview.  I am glad we had volunteers from Koinos Christian Fellowship and Two Rivers Community Church.

The Neffs are under contract on a house located near the University of Dayton.  Closing is scheduled for the end of this month.  The newly wed Randolphs have settled into their apartment and are still searching for a house.  The Davis’ are moving from Raleigh to Dayton this Saturday.  The Popes are still searching for a house, seen some they like, but nothing that catches their eye yet.

This past month had several things to thank God for.  To name a few of these blessings:  Refuge has been in Dayton for one year now, we had our first preview service, and a friend of John and Amy’s started his relationship with Christ!

Psalm 28:7 “The Lord is my strength and my sheild; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.”

June Prayer Letter

To say this past month was busy, would be an understatement.  Scot and Hannah got married, Pope’s went on vacation, lots of planning for preview services, and I just finished my first series.  This next month looks to be just as busy.  Thanks for you prayers and support, we are reminded daily of how much we need it.

Scot and Hannah were married this past Saturday.  They had planned for an outdoor wedding, but right as we were about to begin the service, the weather had a change of heart.  We relocated to the back-up spot and everything went well.

John, Amy, and Abi enjoyed their first vacation.  John was able to get some rest, reading, graphic design work, and many other things done during their vacation.  Right before they left on vacation, Amy was notified that she did not have a job due to remodeling.  She interviewed with another department, and ended up getting the job and works with the patients she use to have.  She is now trying to get her boss to lessen the work hours.

Scot, Hannah, and I helped with a bridge painting project.  UpDayton is a group that is trying to do things to help revitalize downtown.  Scot and Hannah were able to talk to people as they painted the walking bridge.  I was able to have several short conversations, because I was constantly getting paint, paint supplies, and moving things.

We now have about a month till our first preview service.  John took the time to go over everything that needs to be done, and is relying on me to organize all the parts.  We have three separate areas that other people are organizing and leading in, and John has asked me to work with these leaders, serve them.  My role is best understood as a servant of everyone, but makes sure all areas are organized, and have all the materials they need.  So there is a lot of organizing, purchasing, and detail planning happening.

While I learned a lot by doing the Jude series, prehaps the thing I learned about the most, is filling in for a pastor is not easy.  I now see more mercy in John’s life and how he interacts with people than I had seen before.  Even though I agree with the assesment of Treasuring Christ Church, when they endorced John as a pastor, I have grown exponentially in that agreement while he was on vacation.  I am blessed to have him as a friend, but I feel even more blessed to have him as a pastor.

If you search for “Refuge City Church” on iTunes, you can download and listen to the Jude series and many others.  Two things happened during that series:  I did the longest message in Refuge history and even though I might feel the message was not that good, doesn’t mean others agree.  The last part, I was so distracted and my thoughts felt as if they were running alll over the place, but the next day John said it was one of the best I had ever done.  I told him thanks, but God deserves all the praise because I was doubting myself and constantly praying for His help throughout the whole message.

Please pray for strength, rest, and patience.  There is a lot to do in the next month.  Refuge will be helping out at two different churches, handing out flyers, brainstorming, planning, constructing, purchasing, and praying in order to be ready for our first preview service on July 22.

May Prayer Letter

Refuge got four new faces this month. Luke and Lydia-Ruth moved here May 5.  Also there is two babies at Refuge now.  Luke and Lydia-Ruth have a little boy, and John and Amy had their baby last month.

John and Amy are leaving on vacation in a less than two weeks.  They will be going out to visit Amy’s family in Arizona for a couple weeks.  Abigal, their daughter, will be going with them.  Please pray that everything goes well and they find the time restful.

I have decided to seek employment downtown.  I will be sending in applications and my resume to different buisnesses down there soon.  I will be looking into several different options, please pray for wisdom and guidance.

There are several areas in downtown that I am considering moving into.  I am waiting to see where John, Luke, and Scot move.  They are looking at houses, and depending on where they move will depend on where I move. 

Twice a year, Dayton holds an event called “Urban Nights”.  Several of us volunteered to help with the event.  Halfway though my time serving, I met a guy named Sonny.  He was telling me about his mom that had passed away recently.  He said he struggled to see why his parents passing away before the age of 60 could ever be a good thing.  He then began asking me why I was serving at Urban Nights.  I started telling him about the church and why we wanted to help at Urban Nights.

Sonny then said, “Do you ever wish you could have met Christ before you met christians?”  After addressing his question I started asking him what he thought about christianity.  Sonny struggles to understand sin, grace, Christ, and many other things.  Many of his questions had to do with trusting God.  After talking for 20 minutes he said he needed to get on a bus so that he could get to the greyhound station and head back to L.A.  I told him I appreciated his conversation and began asking if he was going to look into a church out there.  He didn’t know any so he gave me his e-mail address so that I could help him find a church when he arrives.

May 27 is when I will be starting a four week series through the book of Jude.  I have been enjoying preparing for this series.  John has been a great help guiding and equipping me to go though this book.  I have never done something like this before. 

Please continue to pray for Refuge.  This month has been very encouraging.  With the arrival of the Neff’s, Abigal’s birth, Scot and Hanah preparing for marriage and moving downtown, and Urban Nights, I write you filled with joy because of the work He is doing.

Thanks for your support, and congradulations to my friends Andrew and Anna Barnes on getting married.

Matthew 28:20

April Prayer Letter

Spring Break is allowing me to get some needed rest. This month has caused me to grow in many ways. As my awareness of my need for the Gospel grows, my awareness of how much this city needs the Gospel grows.

Please take the time to thank God for two of our supporting churches. I am always encourage by Mac Williams, pastor at Two Rivers Community Church, and Jonathan Newman, pastor at Koinos Community Church. A couple weeks ago some of the members at Two Rivers came to visit one of our services. We appreciated seeing their excitement and support for Refuge. This past Easter I went with some others to Koinos. Jonathan Newman and many of the members at Koinos sought us out to encourage us.

I was asked several weeks ago to prepare a series at Refuge. This is the first time that I have been asked to do a series. John and I decided to go with the book of Jude. It will be a four weeks series that will start mid May. John’s baby girl will be born soon, and I will be doing this series while he takes a vacation and adjusts to having a baby in the house.

I am so thankful for my friends in Charlotte and Nick Swan. There have been some things that I have had to do lately, that I know God prepared me for, when I was around you. By your patience and allowing me to start seeing my constant need of the Gospel, I have, by God’s grace, been doing the same.

Please pray that Luke hears back soon regarding a couple interviews he had last week. Now that people at Refuge have seen him lead worship, they are egar for him and his family to move here.

Please pray for Mike and Shane. These are a couple guys that I have been talking with about the Gospel. They are struggling to see why they need the Gospel. I have also been trying to find opprotunities for me to get to know more people in Downtown. However not living and not working Downtown makes this harder.

Next month I am going to send out support letters. I need to be downtown so that I can have more interaction with the lost that are living there. My goal is to raise $10,000. It’s hard to be missional to downtown people when you don’t live there. I hope to move into either an area that is has a growing Turkish, Sudanies, or African American population. Downtown Dayton has these demographics, but I have been struggling to connect with them. I want to move into their neighborhood, and do some of the things I did in Charlotte.

March Prayer Letter

Sorry I have not been sending these out lately. There has been a lot going on, and some days I am on the go all day. God’s grace is doing many things.

My renters continue to pay rent on-time! It is such a releif to have good tenents. In a couple months I will be talking to them about what they want to do when the lease ends, this summer. Last year they did not see themselves only living there for one year. In December they said they were still undecided between doing another year or moving into a lease to own.

Since I wrote last I have had the opportunity to speak a couple times. In October, John had me share with a church in the area, the importance of church planting. During chapel, where I teach, I spoke once on the misconception that the church is overly protective, and another time on Gospel Centered Singleness. A couple weeks ago, John was asked to speak at another church so he had me fill in at Refuge City Church.

John continues to work with me on hermeneutics, exegesis, speaking, and preaching. In May he has asked me to do a four week series. This week I will be deciding between a couple things we have been talking about.

John and Amy are expecting their first baby. Abigal Pope should be joining us sometime around the end of April. Everything is going well, and Abigal is developing as the doctors expect.

A couple weekends ago John, Scot and I went with a couple other guys to a conference in Columbus. This conference focused on being men of God. After the conference we grabbed a bite to eat, and while having dinner one of the unbelieving friends we brought with us shared the Gospel with the other unbelieving friend. It was so amazing to see.

Please pray for the unbelievers in our midst. This past Wednesday we prayed, as a church, for our unbelieving friends. There are a lot of them. Praise God for bringing them into friendships with various people at Refuge.

I am about to try raising finances to support my part-time work with the church. We call it part-time, but it’s more like full-time. My current salary does not put me in a position where I could live downtown. I have tried to work the budgeting a couple times, but the money is not there with what my current job pays. I hope to raise $10,000. That would be enough for me to live downtown. It’s hard to be missional to downtown people when you don’t live there. I hope to move into either an area that is has a growing Turkish, Sudanies, or African American population. Downtown Dayton has these demographics, but I have been struggling to connect with them. I want to move into their neighborhood, and do some of the things I did in Charlotte.

October Prayer Letter

Church planting seems to find ways of deepening your dependance on God. Thanks for your prayers, they are very much appreciated.

Over the past months we have been meeting to develop the team more. We have been taking many college students and young professionals through the vision and mission of Refuge City Church. John has been leading most of those meetings and Scot has jumped in, when John has been out of town. We had another vision presentation a couple weeks ago, and things went well. John was able to relax more because Scot and I took care of organizing everything for that night. John is growing as a pastor, and it has been a joy to support him as he leads this church.

Scot and I have been working together to allevieate as much as we can from John’s load as we can. Communication has been a main area that we are trying to grow in. While it easy to think, just talk more, that’s not always the best way to communicate. Each of us understands words in different ways, and ofter how things are communicated is swayed by feelings.

It’s so easy to loose focus and let our sinfulness sway our hearts from realizing God’s grace at work in each other. It has been encouraging to me to see Scot by God’s grace serving people, talking with people about the Gospel, teaching those who are coming about our core values, and so much more. John, by God’s grace, has been: helping Scot and I see the depts to which our sin will try to hide itself, teaching us about loving the city, how the Gospel can breakthrough in how we serve and live, speaking with pastors in the area about RCC and the necesity for this church, and so much more. Amy, John’s wife, by the grace of God, has been: understanding of many of the struggles John faces, reaching out to women that have been coming and those she meets, cooking up food for so many different occasions, and there are so many other things that could easily go unnoticed.

John has asked me to speak at Airway Baptist Church on October 16. This will be my first time speaking in Ohio since my teenage years, not to mention it is for their Sunday morning service.

Things can get busy but through it all we are seeing God build another church for His glory.

Psalm 30